Keystone Fund-plank-Sierra
PLEASE ACT NOW TO STOP THE RAID ON THE KEYSTONE FUND Dear friend, During the recent frenetic state budget negotiations, a group of legislators who oppose spending money for public land acquisition came up with a scheme to deplete the major source of funding for this purpose, the Keystone Fund. Led by Senator Mary Jo White, (R, Venango) they quietly crafted a proposal to divert money from the Keystone Fund, in order to pay for the state Hazardous Sites Clean Up Fund. This proposal passed the Senate as part of SB 913, and is now in the PA House. Sierra Club supports funding hazardous waste cleanup, but DOES NOT support taking it away from a fund that is used for State Park and Forest expansion, local parks and recreation, museums and libraries. We have joined with other conservation groups in a coalition called Pennsylvanians for Restoration and Conservation (PARC), to oppose SB 913, or any other effort to raid environmental program funding. We do not believe that it is appropriate to "Rob Peter to pay Paul", which is what is intended by SB 913. Please read the below alert, and act quickly, since a vote on SB 913 or a similar bill could happen at any time before the General Assembly passes the budget and adjourns for the summer. Thanks, Jeff Schmidt Insights Yesterday, a bipartisan group of PA Representatives took the stage at a news conference to oppose any diversions from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Articles, editorials, op-eds and letters to the editor supporting Keystone are popping up in newspapers across the state. Senate Bill 913 moved from the fast-track to a stop. Congratulations to everyone who helped get us to this point! However, we still have work to do. The Keystone cut language can still be added into the fiscal code — the massive budget package — that legislators must pass before they go home for the summer. Please take the time now to: #1 Call and email your State Representative and Senator Ask them to refuse to vote for a budget package that includes cuts to Keystone. Ask them to tell their legislative leaders to keep Keystone out of the budget package. Find your state senators and representatives by using the upper right corner box at http://www.legis.state.pa.us #2 Call the Governor’s office at 717-787-2500 and send email via http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Governor/govmail.html or governor@state.pa.us Tell them that the Governor shouldn’t take money from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Tell them it is crazy may find a word that suits you better that the governor who is moving to cut Keystone funding is the same governor who just appointed a task force to keep people connected with the outdoors. Please continue making calls and sending emails until the state budget is adopted or you hear otherwise. The Keystone Fund receives roughly $86M annually from a portion of the State Realty Transfer Tax. This is the “bread and butter” revenue source for conservation and recreation. The PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources is allocated 65% of this money for community recreation, park and conservation projects as well as improvements to state parks and forests. Libraries, museums, and higher education receive the balance of Keystone funding. For your information, here is the open letter sent by the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association to the Governor and General Assembly on Saturday: Dear Governor Rendell, Senators and Representatives: I write on behalf of the Pennsylvania Land Trust Association’s 80 member organizations and their 89,000 members and contributors. As you make decisions regarding the 2006-07 state budget, we urge you not to divert money from the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Community needs and demands on the Keystone Fund already far exceed Keystone revenues. We ask you to keep the Keystone Fund whole, so it can continue its 14 years of success in helping communities help themselves. Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Summary The Keystone Fund has supported thousands of community park development projects including athletic fields, community centers, playgrounds and pools. Hundreds of miles of recreational trails have been built with Keystone funding. Tens of thousands of acres of community open space, wildlife habitat, state forests and parks are forever protected and available for public enjoyment because of the Keystone Fund. Keystone has improved public access and facilities in our state parks and forests. It also has supported community library, museum and SSHE construction projects. Each dollar of Keystone Fund investment typically leverages a dollar or more in direct local and county investments in our parks, special community green spaces and libraries. The additional benefits brought by improving the livability of our communities and providing recreational and outdoor opportunities to our children are immeasurable. The Flawed Reasoning for Keystone Cuts During this time of budget surplus, the Pennsylvania Senate passed Senate Bill 913, which would enact the largest recreation and conservation funding cut in Commonwealth history. The Senators who still support Senate Bill 913 argue that their $40 million annual diversion from the Keystone Fund will not harm conservation and recreation because the Fund has grown and its revenue source – 15% of the Realty Transfer Tax – continues to grow. The Senators apparently have forgotten that the Fund was intended to grow. The Senators of 1993 saw that conservation and recreation needs were growing explosively with costs increasing each year. Hence, the Senate voted 48-0, the House 196-3, to create a permanent Fund that would increase as the real estate market grew. With land acquisition and recreation demands having grown many-fold and the cost of these projects escalating dramatically, the wisdom of those 1993 legislators is evident. Ironically, this cut is proposed during a housing market decline with realty transfer tax revenues that support Keystone actually shrinking by $19 million this year. The irony goes deeper: In a 2005 public referendum, Pennsylvania voters overwhelmingly supported a new $625 million Growing Greener bond to invest in Pennsylvania’s environmental well-being. The borrowing is expected to be paid back over 20 years. Now the Senators propose to axe Keystone funding by $800 million over 20 years, effectively undoing the conservation and recreation benefit provided by Growing Greener 2. Senators who still support SB 913 further defend their action by saying that the Governor diverted $75 million from the Keystone Fund last year. To set the record straight, the Governor, with Senate (and House) consent, made an accounting change to the Keystone Fund to make it consistent with other state accounting practices. Not a single dollar was lost from the annual funding stream for community conservation and recreation projects. Senate Bill 913, in contrast, calls for $40 million previously intended to support conservation and recreation infrastructure projects to be eliminated each year. Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund We appreciate the need to support the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund. However, taking money from community park, conservation and library efforts is not an appropriate way to address hazardous site management needs. If we do not protect key lands in our communities today, they will be forever lost. If we do not fund our parks, we impoverish our children who have already lost many of the outdoor opportunities that we adults enjoyed in childhood. We put our children at risk for increased health problems and engaging in dangerous and illicit behaviors. Keystone Funds are needed to ensure safe parks and playgrounds, trails, athletic fields, pools and other outdoor opportunities close to home. There are other options for funding HSCA. For example, Representative Chris Ross’ amendment to HB 1206 would direct one-quarter mil of the capital stock-franchise tax to the HSCF. This would be appropriate since the capital stock-franchise tax was an original revenue source for the HSCF. Upon expiration of the capital stock-franchise tax, 2.15% of the corporate net income tax would be directed to the HSCF. Senator John Rafferty plans to introduce legislation to establish a returnable beverage container deposit program (a “bottle bill”). All unclaimed deposit money would be dedicated to funding HSCA. Other options include increasing the waste tipping fee or funding HSCA out of the General Fund for one year while study of a permanent solution is explored. In Conclusion The Keystone Fund helps communities in every county and legislative district. Cuts to Keystone will have immediate impacts on these communities. Viewing the list of Keystone funded projects at http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/grants will give the reader a very quick understanding of the positive impact Keystone has on the lives of Pennsylvanians. We urge the members of the Senate and House to ask their respective leaders to keep the Keystone Fund off the budget negotiation table. We urge the Governor to reject any budget deal that calls for cutting the Keystone Fund. We urge all parties to uphold the tremendous recreation and conservation legacy that their predecessors – Republican and Democrat – established with the Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund. Sincerely, Andrew M. Loza Executive Director Pennsylvania Land Trust Association 105 Locust St, Harrisburg, PA 17101 717-230-8560 aloza@conserveland.org http://conserveland.org Sample talking points: * Keystone has helped communities in every county and legislative district: ** Supported thousands of community park development and recreation projects. ** Protected tens of thousands of critical wildlife habitat. ** Built hundreds of miles of recreation trails. * Keystone leverages one or more dollars in local funds for each dollar invested by the state. Consequently, every dollar reduction in Keystone would actually result in the loss of $2 or more to community recreation and conservation. * If you want to cite recent Keystone projects in your county, which are listed under DCNR’s heading of Community Conservation Partnership Program, go to http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/brc/grants * Demand for Keystone Funds already far exceeds available funds. Many requests are downsized or never filed because applicants know that DCNR caps the amount of grant money going to any single applicant. The proposed cut would leave many more municipalities and nonprofits out in the cold: ** Each year, 150 county and municipal park projects including trails, playgrounds, athletic fields, pools and more won’t happen. ** Each year, 3,000-5,000 acres of new park land and critical wildlife habitat won’t be protected. (In contrast, 110,000 acres of land are consumed by development each year in PA.) ** State Park and Forest infrastructure improvement projects supporting public access such as water systems and road rehabilitations won’t happen. * The Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Fund Act was signed into law in July 1993 after being approved 48-0 in the Senate and 196-3 in the House. The Act directed 15% of the state’s Real Estate Transfer Tax to the Keystone Fund, establishing a dedicated and permanent funding source for recreation, parks, conservation, and other programming. That November in a referendum, voters placed their own endorsement on the Keystone Fund when 67% voted in favor of supplementing the newly created fund with $50 million in bond revenues. The Keystone Fund is a rarity—a state program created by overwhelming support by both legislature and public referendum. Responses to Common Arguments: Argument: The Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund desperately needs money. Response: Money should be found for the Hazardous Sites Cleanup Fund. However, land conservation and park efforts desperately need money too. Taking money from recreation, park and conservation projects is not an appropriate way to address hazardous site cleanup needs. If we do not protect key lands in our communities today, they will be forever lost. If we do not fund our parks, we impoverish our children who have already lost many of the outdoor opportunities that we adults enjoyed in childhood. We put our children at risk for increased health problems; we put them at risk for engaging in dangerous and illicit behaviors. Funds are needed to ensure safe parks and playgrounds, trails, athletic fields, pools and other outdoor opportunities close to home. Argument: The Keystone Fund has grown substantially and will grow further as realty transfer tax receipts increase. We can cut the Fund without hurting conservation and recreation. Response: First, realty transfer receipts are down this year; consequently the Keystone Fund is shrinking. The housing market has really slowed! Second, the Keystone Fund was structured to grow as transfer tax receipts grow because park acquisition and development costs grow each year. The cost of living has increased 75% since the inception of Keystone in 1993, and the cost of land conservation and providing safe recreational opportunities has grown at an even faster pace. The demands on our protected lands and park facilitities grow each year and a growing fund was purposely created to address the needs. (110,000 acres are lost to development each year in PA. In contrast, perhaps 40,000 acres are conserved each year. If anything, we should be spending more on protecting Pennsylvania’s special places, not less.) Argument: No-one was bothered when the Governor took money from Keystone last year. Response: The Governor (with the agreement of the legislature) made an accounting change, making Keystone consistent with other state programs. Moving Keystone to a “current year” funding basis had NO impact on the annual level of conservation and recreation project funding. In contrast, this present effort to strip $40M/year will... well... strip $40M/year from conservation and recreation projects--profoundly hurting communities. Argument: The Keystone Fund is flush with unspent money. Response: This is just plain false. All monies in the Keystone Fund are committed to community projects. To take money away would be to take money already publicly promised by the Governor to communities for their very real conservation and recreation projects. Source PA-CG-ACTIVISTS list, send any message to: PA-CG-ACTIVISTS-signoff-request@LISTS.SIERRACLUB.ORG Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information: http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/ category:Planks_from_elsewhere